Did any of you choose NYU over Chicago? If so, can you elaborate on why? I'm struggling to make the decision...

I chose NYU over Chicago. Based on my interests (death penalty work), it was a no-brainer. It depends on what you want to do, but in just about every field NYU places much better then U Chicago. It's obviously the case for PI work or government work, but also for BigLaw placement, especially in NYC, the biglaw capital of the world.

Chicago has some pluses over NYU, mainly clerkship placement, although the gap there is not huge and has narrowed lately. Professor placement is also higher, but once again not a huge gap. Both of these seem largely influenced by self selection as well so its hard to tell. Brian Leiter has good rankings on the topic, but he himself admits that self selection is a problem.

NYU just seems to have better oppurtunities in more fields: much better clinics, better biglaw placement, better PI placement, better government placement, as well as amazing placement for summer jobs and for fellowships. And the areas where Chicago does have an edge are few and that edge is quite slim.

I chose NYU because it seemed like it would open more doors. NYC wasn't too big of a plus at the time, although now the more i think about it the more excited i am to be living in NYC and have so much exposure to all of its resources. I've been browsing NYU's summer placement guides (man i'm a gunner) and the myriad of unbelivable summer oppurtunities right outside my door is amazing. Chicago, while a great city, just can't compete with that.